Lacy Roe Campbell (January 4, 1900 – December 27, 1988) was an American athlete and banking executive from Tennessee who achieved honors and awards in multiple sports. He played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

of the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

and won the Porter Cup as best all-around athlete at the University. After a successful banking career in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

Campbell became interested in playing

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

at age 48 and pioneered senior tennis tournaments in the United States. He was inducted into the Tennessee Tennis Hall of Fame in 1992.

Early years

Campbell was born on January 4, 1900, to Jefferson Davis Campbell and Louise Truin in a rural part of

Washington County, Tennessee Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,001. Its county seat is Jonesborough. The county's largest city and a regional educational, medical and commercial center is ...

. His mother was the daughter of

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

immigrants and an avid

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He was raised in Greene County and attended Tusculum College (now Tusculum University) in east Tennessee near Greeenville for one year before transferring to the University of Tennessee. For his performance at Tusculum, he was inducted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame.

University of Tennessee

Campbell played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and fullback for

M. B. Banks Mark Beal Banks (June 5, 1883 – January 12, 1970) was an American football, basketball and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Central University of Kentucky—now known as Centre ...

from

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

. He also played basketball at UT.

Football

1921

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

, he spearheaded the first touchdown drive of Tennessee's first ever victory over the Mississippi A&M Aggies in a 14 to 7 win in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

1922

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

he was awarded the Porter Cup as best all-around athlete at the University of Tennessee. He also received votes for All-Southern that year.

Basketball

1921–22

He played in the first basketball meeting between Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Tennis

Campbell had a successful career in banking in Knoxville as an executive for Fidelity Bakers Trust and Valley Fidelity Bank. He did not become seriously enthusiastic about tennis until age 48, but took to the game in a big way. In 1960, he and some fellow tennis aficionados in Knoxville (including mayor Kyle Testerman), noticed the scarcity of tennis courts in the city. They purchased land for a tennis club called "Northshore Club" which was later renamed the "Knoxville Racquet Club". Campbell was the first president of this tennis and swimming venue that exists in modern day. Sportswriter Red Bailes called the Knoxville Racquet Club "the birthplace of senior tennis". The first

USTA The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

sanctioned national championship for players aged 45 years or older was held there in 1963. This led to the creation of the senior tennis program and its multiple age divisions. In 1992 he was inducted into the Tennessee Tennis Hall of Fame. Campbell died in 1998 at age 88.

External links

Tennessee Tennis Hall of Fame

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Roe 1900 births 1988 deaths American football quarterbacks Tennessee Volunteers basketball players Tennessee Volunteers football players Players of American football from Tennessee People from Washington County, Tennessee American football fullbacks Centers (basketball) Tusculum Pioneers football players All-Southern college football players American people of Swiss descent American men's basketball players